New York Times bestselling author. Slow cooking expert.

HAM!FINALLY!And it's so very, very easy. I was told that this was "better than normal ham" which is evidently a pretty big compliment.After I picked the kids up from school we spent the afternoon at the library just so I wouldn't have to be in the house with the amazing smells coming from the kitchen.

The Ingredients

serves 10

7-8 pound bone-in spiral-cut ham

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup all natural maple syrup

2 cups pineapple juice

The Directions.

Use a 6-7 quart slow cooker. Unwrap the ham, and discard flavor packet. Place it into your stoneware, flat-side down. Rub brown sugar on all sides. Pour on maple syrup and pineapple juice. Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours. Ham is already cooked so you are really just heating it through and allowing the juices to permeate.If possible, baste ham with collected juice from the bottom of the crock an hour or so before serving. When cooking is done, remove carefully and let it rest on a cutting board for 15-20 minutes before carving.

I had a hard time carving. I've never been very good with a knife.

The Verdict

I packed this ham up to give to my brother and sister-in-law, and for my dad. They were very complimentary. Adam had 3-4 sandwiches with the remaining meat.

April 2014: {PS: I used to be allergic to pork products, but I no longer am. My last pregnancy seemed to reset my body. #booyah!}

For extra yummy; after crockpotting it you can put it in a foil-lined pan and baste it with the sweet stuff from the crockpot and then broil for just 4-5 minutes until it carmelizes. You get something close to that honey-baked ham sweet crunchy topping.

yum! Ham, where were you at Christmas? We will be making this for Easter for sure. I am making your tomato soup for dinner tonight. It is one of my top 5 favorites. And I made your chocolate marshmallow fondue yesterday for my mother's group. I'm very excited that a lot of them gave up chocolate for lent and was able to bring home quite a bit of leftovers. Fondue and pineapple for dessert tonight.

I learned that you can bake ham like this the hard way- After buying a ridiculously large ham I was going to bake it before realizing the pan I needed was in use already. So I stuck it in the crockpot after meticulously cutting diamonds into the skin, applying a rub, and anal-retentively sticking in cloves, only to find that the sucker didn't fit in my crock pot (I didn't know that was possible- my crockpot is 8 quarts or something). I apparently have ADD because I just shrugged and told myself I can make it in the oven later. Later comes and my roasting pan is no more vacant than it was that morning, so I decided to hack off the top of the ham I worked so hard on so it would fit in the crock pot. It cooked pretty well (despite me not cutting off enough on the top so when as it cooked it expanded and pushed up the lid anyway) and was probably one of the better hams I've ever made, even if it was one of the worse preparations.Anyway, that was a long, dumb story. Thanks for listening. And if any readers are interested, it's totally possible to make an uncooked ham in the crock pot.-Karell

So, I have a question not related to this post but I could not find where to email you so I had to go this route, sorry.

I once made a recipe from your site that was chicken with bacon and cheese on it and you mentioned that it reminded you of a cheeseburger. I cannot find that recipe anywhere and would love to make it again. Help! Thanks, and sorry if I am just blind and it is right in front of me. :)

Karell, oh my. I'm sorry you had such a bizarre experience. If this ever happens again and you find that the lid of the slow cooker doesn't fit properly, you can make a make-shift lid with an aluminum foil tent. I'd double the foil over to have it a bit thicker than normal, and crimp tightly around the edges. Your food will cook just fine, but if you don't crimp tightly you'll get condensation drippings on your countertop. BE CAREFUL when you remove the foil----the steam will shoot straight out and will be quite hot.

Wow! Wow! and WOW! I'm deeply impressed. Was that a spiral ham you had? I'm betting it wasn't if you had so much trouble carving it. I love the spiral hams and now know how I'm cooking my next one. Just waiting for the next sale. Never buy a spiral ham unless it is on sale.

My youngest son is allergic to ham. He avoids most pork due to this but has found in his growing up and moving away from home that SOME pork cuts don't cause him breathing trouble like the cured hams do. We truly believe that it's not really the pork but some of the stuff on the treated meat or what ever they use to cure it with.

I'm only mentioning this because it could be what your problem is too.

I don't eat pork, but I'm still enjoying your weblog via "reruns". I made your fish chowder on this surprise snow day, and my first attempt at yogurt is in the crockpot right now. Thanks again, Crockpot Superhero Lady!

In my Independent Living class, the foods experiences focus on cooking with convenience products and convenience appliances. One of my girls said "Mrs. Geffre, I'm pretty sure we won't be getting a crockpot when we move out" Well, I hope she has to eat her words someday! Anyway, all the other students have been very considerate. We have made Crockpot Cavatini, and Crockpot chicken and dumplings.

I just made this tonight after seeing it a couple of days ago on your site. Oh my goodness... so yummy. I don't know that I've ever made a whole ham before (usually when we have it, it's because we're at someone else's house), but it was worth it. I told my dad about the recipe and he's excited to try it himself (although I don't think my parents actually have a crockpot).

Thanks so much for the great ideas for crockpotting. I've had mine for several years and I've never used it before a couple of weeks ago. And now that I'm working crazy hours at work, I can just set something up for my husband to throw in all the ingredients at the appointed time (since he stays home with the kids) so that dinner is ready when I get home. :)

I have to tell you I was just introduced to your blog! I made this for our Sunday meal yesterday and it was fantastic! I had to tweak it a bit because I didn't have Maple syrup so I used homemade Pomegranete syrup instead...it was delightful. I also put in the pinapple chunks...I liked them, my family not so much. Anyway, thank yo for a really great recipe!

Is there something to use instead of REAL maple syrup. Here in Texas one cup of the syrup is over $10. Add that to the cost of a ham, the small spiral cut were $16 and I could go to Honey Baked Ham Co. and buy one of theirs!

I (sorta) made it tonight. The grocery store didn't have any ham (What? Did the ham stocker forget to come to work?) so I got a big hunka pork shoulder. And I followed a previous poster's suggestion about using a can of pineapple slices. DELISH!

Made this the other night, and it was AWESOME! I actually skipped the syrup (we try to avoid sugar), and used a can of crushed pineapple instead of juice because I didn't want to buy a huge can of juice when I only needed 2 cups. It wasn't "maple", I guess, without the syrup, but it was so delicious.

Great recipe! I made it for Easter today and everyone raved - and it was wicked easy! The hardest part was fitting the darn thing into the crockpot in the first place - I ended up having to hack it into pieces first, but hey, it ended up being really tender. I'm definitely going to make this again.

This was delicious. The only change I'll make next time is to reduce the cooking time. My ham was a little overcooked after 7 hours on low in the crockpot. Regardless it was so delicious and the only way I'll make ham from now on!

Thanks for the Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan recipe. Last summer I ate them at a party and has been looking for an authentic recipe ever since. Now I will be able to make them myself. Thanks again for shearing your post.

So glad I found your blog. Made this tonight and loved it! Our family loves what others are calling "overcooked" ham. We call it "stringy" ham as it just peels off rather than slicing it. This was a little sweet for us but that didn't keep us from eating it all!

Also, I made the lid with foil like you suggested since it didn't quite fit in my 6 qt pot. I had to use a 9 lb shank portion because that's all my grocery store had. Everything worked like a charm!

I have a 8.5 pound spiral ham cooking in my crock right now and I added some of the things here. I had very little maple syrup, so i used what I had left of it and mixed it with a little bit of imitation maple extract and cola. I had a small can of crushed pineapple so i squeezed as much juice as i could out of it, then added some pineapple to it. The ham was too tall for my crock so i turned it to the side and it seems to be cooking just fine, i rotate it every 1.5 hours or so. thankz so much for posting ur recipe on here. i have never cooked a ham in my crock pot before. I smell the aroma of the ham and it is making me hungry right now!

Quote me if I'm wrong but you can't get sick from nibbling on a spiral sliced ham since they are fully cooked. Also...I'm curious as to why anyone would have trouble carving a spiral sliced ham since it is "sliced" for you and ready to go!!!!

I did this for Christmas yesterday, and it went over SO WELL. My husband, who loves ham, said it was the best he's had. I only did half a cup of brown sugar (a full cup seemed like a lot, and then halfway through I realized I'd bought a brown sugar cured ham.....) and 1.5 cups of pineapple juice, but did a full cup of maple syrup (my husband's family is from Maine :). After 6.5hrs on low the meat was falling off the bone. I'd set the timer for 7hrs, but with less than 40mins to go I noticed the meat was starting to fall off. I didn't even need a knife once it was out of the crockpot-just used two forks to lightly pull the meat off the bone. My husband's family loved it, and I'm heating up the rest for my family today-I saved the juice so it doesn't dry out the second time around (although I'm only putting it in for maybe an hr, hr and a half on low). Thank you so much for this!

I dont know where I went wrong, but mine turned out super dry. I have a 3.5 qt slow cooker, but I used a small ham, which totally fit into the crock. I put it on low for...about 6.5 hours and I even basted it once or twice. Even the bottom part of the ham, which was sitting in the liquid came out kind of dry. Id like to try again, but I dont know if I can risk another 25$! It was the first recipe tried from your book-Im eager to try some more and obviously hope I get better results :)

oh no! I'm not sure what happened either. I wonder if your crock has steam release holes? Was there condensation on the lid, or did the lid stay dry? If you have gaps in the lid, or indentations in the rim of the crock, you might want to put down a layer of foil to help trap in steam and moisture.

I hope you were able to cut the ham up and use it for something! I hate the idea of wasting food---I'm so sorry this has happened.

My whole family loved this recipe. I love your site. So many wonderful recipes. I linked to it on my blog. Hope thats ok http://myjourneyasablog.blogspot.com/2010/09/crockpot-maple-ham-recipe-for-my-future.html

I'm cooking the Maple Ham in my slow cooker right now. I use pure 100% maple syrup, and not the store bought kind made with HFCS. This ham has got to be delicious. The smell is awesome, I'm drooling waiting for it to cook.

Thanks for all the help, really didn't want to cook it in the oven and have the skin to be too tough, I wanted to try it a new way and this sounds like a great way to do it. I thank you very much. I doubled the ingredients because the ham I have is 14 to 15 pounds. Thank you so much.

I just bought my first slow cooker at the post Christmas sales, I asked my friends on facebook for recipe ideas and one of them gave me a link to your blog and I am so glad they did! It took me almost 2 days to get through your archives, but now I have gone from having no idea what to cook in my slow cooker, to having TOO MANY ideas!

I had a ham in the fridge that didn't get used for Christmas so decided to make this recipe. It is in my slow cooker now christening it and it smells soooo good! Can't wait to try it tonight.

Thank-you so very very much for all of your great ideas, I'm sure I will make many more of your recipes :)

I had a thought about cooking my ham in a crock pot, googled the idea and got here. Will give it a try even if my ham is not pre-sliced. My hubby wants to make pea soup so said to get a ham with a bone. Looking forward to cooking and smelling this today. Will look at more of your recipes, so thanks for all. :-))

I made this for a large gathering and everyone loved it! Instead of just using the juice, I used a can of crushed pineapple which was delish too! Thanks! I'm going to try your Applesauce chicken tomorrow. :)

as a note, when your ham doesn't fit, tent it with foil, works just as well .........I've done this plenty of times and comes out moist and tasty every time, also I do the pineapple rings along with the cloves

Made this today, with a few changes. Did not use any pineapple juice (just don't line pineapple on my ham). Instead I combined the brown sugar, maple syrup, ground mustard and half and half in a small pot. Once combined I poured it over the ham and slow cooked for 6 hours. I can tell you this I will not go back to cooking ham in the oven anymore. Thank you!

I made this for Easter, and totally spaced the 6-7 hours needed. I started cooking this about 3 hours before I intended to serve it, and ended up chucking it into the oven to heat it through. Luckily, I used a fully-cooked (hickory smoked) ham, so it wasn't the end of the world.

The recipe was delicious, and using a hickory smoked ham made it like eating bacon with maple syrup (one of my favorite things on earth).

I can't believe I forgot to comment on this ham last year. I made it for Thanksgiving 2011 and it was such a hit. My little brother called it the best *expletive* *expletive* ham he has ever had.

So, I made it again for Christmas Eve!

It's on the list for one week from now, and I cannot wait!

Last year, I bought a tremendous ham that didn't fit in the crock pot in any way possible! I decided to cut the ham into large chunks and just let the chunks soak up that juice for 8 hours. It worked out very well, and I think I might even do it that way again this year.

I am curios about this ham as I am wanting to make it for Thanksgiving dinner- I have a 9lb UNCOOKED ham. Should I cook it the same amount of time? I didn't see anywhere whether this was for an uncooked or cooked ham?

I found this recipe last year and made it many times from Thanksgiving to New Year's. And then just because. We don't even care where the retail honeyed hams are anymore. This is easy, affordable and SOOOO delicious! Thank you for teaching me how to better use my crockpot. This is one good blog!

So I am not someone who eats ham or has ever cooked it, so maybe making ham for Christmas for my in-laws for the first time isn't smart but I am. I have a turkey planned as well. I bought an 8lb BONELESS spiral cut ham. I feel like it would need less time in the slow cooker or it would get dried out, no? Can you advise? Thank you

Hi Lara,No problem! 8 pounds is still pretty big and will fill your pot nicely.I would suggest checking after 4-5 hours on low or 2.5-3 hrs on high.All you need to do is make the ham hot, it's already fully cooked.

My ham, after only 5hrs on low, was very overdone, internal temp 150 F. I wish your original directions of 6-8 hrs was changed to reflect your last post suggesting 4-5 hrs, as we ruined a meal. Cooks Illustrated recommends temp of only 120 F.

Do you have a suggestion for keeping sliced ham warm in a crockpot? I have guests coming at different times for Easter. Would keeping slices on the warm setting dry them out? Should I add an inch or so of water?